I made this available to my email subscribers on Leap Day, but now I’m releasing this to the wide world!

Today’s the day. Starting right now, you can pre-order my newest creation.

Beauty Everywhere. (My book!)

I’ll ship them out to you later this spring, but because this is a limited edition item, I wanted you to have the opportunity to reserve yours now.

Beauty Everywhere is a delightful collection. Measuring 8 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches, every page is printed in full color with a flip out easel back, so you can display it wherever you need a little more beauty in your life. Each one will be signed and numbered by me.

For nearly five years, Chris and I lived onboard a hospital ship based primarily in West Africa.  That ship shaped me as a person and an artist. It was amazing.

But it was also stressful. Working in intense conditions and sharing 12 washers and dryers with 400 other people made life complicated sometimes. And it was a little hard to find personal space. But I was lucky–just outside my classroom was a quiet area of aft deck that most people forgot about.

There was one particulary challenging school year while we were in Liberia. After a rough day, I’d go out and sit on deck to watch the waves. The mooring ropes would creak as the ship moved against the dock. It was always warm, and occasionally there was a very large jellyfish (I named him Norman) below in the water.

Even though that ship is long gone, sometimes when I’m having a rough day, I can put myself right back on that deck. And it’s a comfort.

“Solace.” 6×8 Oil on Panel $120.

I spent hours on the floor of my bedroom spinning the globe, closing my eyes and putting my finger down wherever it stopped.

Then I’d look up the country in my World Book Encyclopedia (I was a total nerd) and decide if I wanted to visit when I grew up.

I made a list but never let it get longer than 10. Because who could imagine visiting more than 10 countries? I never thought it would happen.

It’s a good thing our lives turn out better than we imagined them in second grade, because I’ve been to 51 countries– which makes me feel very lucky, but still doesn’t seem like that many.

As I write this, on the bulletin board above my desk is a list of places I haven’t yet been, but still want to go. Chile, New Zealand, India, Russia, Italy and Antarctica. And these are all places I learned about from spinning that globe.

“Spin.” 12×12 Oil on Panel $360.

In college, I delivered pizza for a very long six months. I learned a lot about food and life by knocking on doors with a large flat box in my hand.

But one of my favorite deliveries was always just down the street. About once a week, employees of a certain burger joint down the street would order a pizza, and when I delivered it, I got french fries as a tip.

It was a fair trade. They were sick of burgers and I was sick of pizza. Those were the days when the 99¢ value menu was expensive for me, so those fries were a big tip.

“Tips.” 8×6 Oil on Panel $140.

She was 8 and known in her family for not being very brave, when her family took a trip to the zoo. Her brother was making fun of her because she was afraid to feed the animals.

So she worked up her courage, bought a bag of food, and walked over to a giraffe. She held up her hands in trepidation and the giraffe took all the food in one big slurp. She looked up and was just feeling proud of herself, when the giraffe finished chewing and promptly spit right on to her face.

Oh dear.

“Regrets.” 8×8 Oil on Panel $180.

He shares so much with me. Even last week at dinner, there was only one piece of broccoli left, and he made sure I got it. I know this seems like it’s not that big a deal, but somehow it really made me happy. I’m grateful.

“Generosity.” 4×4 Oil on Panel $120.

P.S. Look what arrived on my doorstep this week! The book proof!!

I did a little happy dance, took a bunch of pictures and then started editing. It looks amazing! I can’t wait for you to see it!

Just a quick reminder– you can read more and order it here. Starting March 20th, it will be available to the public and the pre-order price will end. But you’ve still got a week before that happens. So go check it out!

See, I’m a rule follower by nature. And he’s a rule questioner.

And I’ve realized that if I followed the rules all the time, I’d miss out on some really wonderful experiences.

Like a few years ago in Hawaii, we drove to see the volcano.

As we toured the park, we came to a quiet spot that had a spectacular view. But there was a little safety rope blocking the path.

Chris jumped over it without hesitation and said, “Come on, let’s go look.” And I promptly freaked out.

And then he said something important.
“Come on, Jolie. It’s beautiful. Be brave. You won’t regret it.”

I doubt he even remembers this, but I think about that moment every time I feel chicken. And he’s right. I’ve never regretted being brave. He taught me that.

“Be Brave.” 6×6 Oil on Panel $160.

But I still wasn’t a confident smiler. I grinned, but never for photos. (I still cringe a little when I see my teeth appear in pictures.)

But when I was 17, I met a boy that made me smile. I couldn’t help it. And one of the first things he ever said to me was, “You have a nice smile.”

He had no idea what that meant. Of course, he didn’t know how much that smile had cost or how much effort it took.

But when he said that, it was as if clouds parted and sunbeams shone down.

Since then, it hasn’t always been blue sky and sunshine, but he’s given me many more reasons to smile.

“Gray skies are gonna clear up” 8×8 Oil on Panel $160.

If those dentist appointments had to happen, I at least figured out a way to make them happen at a very convenient time for me. This time was exactly 1:45 pm.

That was right when 4th period ended and 5th period began at my middle school. So then I had to miss both classes. And though I was horribly disappointed to miss both Algebra and P.E. I chose to make the best of it.

By missing both classes as much as possible.

I suppose it says something about me that I preferred dental surgery over physical education and solving for x, but somewhere along the way, I realized that dental surgery was painful, but Algebra was painful and embarassing.

So every month, as we stood at the receptionist’s desk scheduling the next appointment, I made sure that I was in that orange chair at just the right time.

*An aside: My face is a magnet for balls. Every object in today’s painting hit me in the face at some point during my middle school career. Any wonder why I avoided P.E.?

“Advantage” 4×4 Oil on Panel $120.

Not only did I avoid tripping over my shoelaces, I had to avoid anything else that could possibly damage my very expensive dental work.

And that meant no candy.

Well, almost no candy. Pixy Stix were allowed, but Jolly Ranchers weren’t. Gum was also banned. No Starburst, nothing chewy or sticky. Which means that Tootsie Roll Pops were especially evil.

And for a five year old, this was a tragedy of Greek proportions.

Occasionally, I was successful in sneaking candy. It took several trips to Baskin-Robbins before my mom realized that the bubble gum ice cream flavor actually had real pieces of bubble gum, but for the most part I missed out on the joys of childhood that come from corn syrup and red dye #40.

By the time my dental work was finished, I was too old for anything that turned my tongue blue. But I still can’t help feeling like I missed out on an important part of being a kid.

So if you send me your favorite childhood candy, I’ll attempt to track it down and try it. But I’m betting that my counting methods are much like Mr. Owl’s—so I still won’t know how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll pop.

“Sticky” 8×8 Oil on Panel $150.